by Shayla Asselin
The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him.
Lamentations 3:24
Exhausted. I’ve heard that word many times in 2020. I’ve also experienced the weight of that word often throughout this year. As we celebrated the new year seven months ago, none of us anticipated what was in store. In many ways, 2020 has been a roller coaster ride. And not one of those fun roller coaster rides. No, it’s been like one of those rides that takes your breath away, makes you sick to your stomach, raises your blood pressure, and leaves you with a pounding headache when it’s over.
I’ve never been a doom-and-gloom type person, but recent events have hovered over my optimism like a dark cloud. I like to fix things. Make things better. But I’ve realized just how feeble my efforts are. To be transparent, any effort of encouragement has seemed like a tiny bandaid over a gaping wound. I know that no matter how many inspirational cards with pretty poems I send, or how many dinners I deliver, or how many bouquets of flowers I buy, people will still be experiencing a reality that none of those well-meaning intentions can heal.
(I hope you don’t misunderstand me. I’m still going to send the cards, deliver the meals, and buy the flowers and I encourage you to do the same. It may only seem like a tiny bandaid, but remember how much better bandaids made you feel as a kid?)
So what do we do when that sense of helplessness overwhelms us? What do we give when we’ve given our all? What do we say when there is nothing left to say? What to we pray when we run out of words to pray? I don’t know. I can’t tell you what to give, what to say, or what to pray. All I know to do is to cling to hope.
Hope is the heart’s healer.
No, it doesn’t change the reality of pain and discouragement, but it makes tomorrow worth fighting for today.
Psalm 62 reminds us that because our hope comes from God, our souls can find rest. And I think we would all agree that our physically and emotionally exhausted bodies could use the rest that only God can give us.
So today I encourage you to seek that rest. It can settle an anxious heart and provide peace to a troubled mind. Rest today in the hope from Heaven, assured that He is trustworthy and is fighting our battles for us. Even in the silent, dark nights He is working it all together for His good. We can rest, we can trust, and we can have hope because we have Him.
